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14,000 Miles of Inspiration and Perspiration — Tour de Fox

14,000 Miles of Inspiration and Perspiration — Tour de Fox

Sam and his mother, Lucy Fox

Since 2011, Sam Fox, 27, an ultra-athlete, has completed two extreme fundraisers for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, raising $400,000. His mom, Lucy, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease more than 15 years ago, and he dedicates his efforts to her. Yet he takes his greatest inspiration from the Parkinson’s community — the countless moms, dads and families touched by Parkinson’s, the second most common degenerative brain disease after Alzheimer’s, for which no cure has yet been found.

Now Sam is preparing for his most extreme stunt yet: a three-month, 14,000-mile journey across the United States punctuated by 5,000 miles of cycling, 10 technical mountain climbs and 38 day climbs and hikes, in an attempt to raise $1 million for research. This is Tour de Fox.

The Tour is very likely passing through your town this summer. Sam shared his story with FoxFeed in the hope you’ll consider donating in support of his quest:

My mother, Lucy, was the first to teach me the value of hard work, time and time and again, by example. All my life, she has kept stunning acres of gardens at our house in Rhode Island. Clean and disciplined flowerbeds wrap around the house. Wildflowers are spread haphazardly throughout our small meadow, framed by rows of apple trees. Visitors attest to just how breathtaking a tour through these gardens can be. And on first, or even second, glance, most people assume we’ve hired a team to handle the gardens’ round-the-clock needs — weeding, trimming, mowing and watering, shoveling, cutting and hauling brush, moving heavy stumps and rocks. But it’s not the case. It’s just mom and her unmatched affinity for truly hard work.

It’s impossible to see your mother sweat and toil and not be inspired. Because of her influence, I count digging holes with a shovel as a favorite hobby. She taught me to embrace the pain, smile at the blisters and shrug off the sunburns on my shoulders (even if it hurts to do so). So while it was my dad who helped spark my love of adventure and the outdoors, it’s my mother’s lessons about hard work and toughness that I call on during long days and nights on the trail. It’s those lessons that carry me through cold, rain, blisters and bone breaks, steeps, mud, and racking exhaustion.

My mom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s more than 15 years ago now. Growing hops and brewing beer have replaced hiking and skiing; biking and kayaking have given way to quality time with her grandson. Mom takes a lot of medications, loses sleep and deals with a level of general discomfort that those of us unaffected by neurological conditions should feel blessed we do not understand. Yet she is still so unmistakably herself. Her gardens certainly haven’t noticed that she’s sick. She cracks us up regularly. When reporters asked her what she thought about my record attempt on the Pacific Crest Trail, she told them she thought I was nuts. (Then she added that she was proud.)

My mother is an inspiration to me, but it is not because she’s bravely fighting Parkinson’s — it’s because there was never any doubt that she would face and defeat whatever challenge arose. I don’t dedicate my training and my extreme efforts to her battle with a terrible disease, I simply dedicate them to her for being my mom — one small part of all that she’s done, and all that she is.


Make an imprint on Parkinson’s this summer with Sam and donate to Tour de Fox.

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